Eager to share her grisly discovery, Carol stirs up the courage to leave Albuquerque. In her pursuit to catch the hive in the wrong, she discovers more answers. And the man in Paraguay receives a glimmer of hope.
Carol is awestruck at what she discovered in the refrigerated warehouse. Doing her best Blair Witch impersonation, Carol documents the terrifying truth: the hive is eating fellow humans. Frozen, air-wrapped heads, torsos, and limbs fill the warehouse. Only to be ground into the white, dusty substance that is then consumed in the milk cartons. Carol prepares to deliver her message and realizes something of this magnitude deserves to be shared in person. She packs her cop car and treks the lonesome drive to Nevada, where the nearest survivor resides in Las Vegas.
Here, we find Mr. Diabaté living his best life in his own James Bond feature. The ladies swoon over him as he wins a high-stakes poker game against a would-be one-eyed villain. And once the game is over, the hive turns from cast to crew, cleaning up the set, as if they are playing pretend. Diabaté is prepared to enjoy his winnings when “they” alert him of Carol’s pending presence.
Carol storms to the 30th floor of the Westgate hotel to relay the terrifying news, only to discover Mr. Diabaté — and 10 other survivors — already know about the hive’s eating habits. With the wind out of her sail, Carol learns the hive consumes 8 percent of Human Derived Protein or “H.D.P” to maintain proper sustenance. But what is more concerning is that the other survivors elected not to include Carol in their social gatherings, virtual or otherwise.
Overwhelmed, Carol weeps, drinks, and falls to sleep. The next morning, Carol seems eager to return to her life of solitude. Before her reluctant departure, she attempts to gag Diabaté again when she discovers she can prevent the hive from making her one of them. A simple do-not-consent request guarantees — for now — Carol keeping her pessimistic autonomy.
Meanwhile, three days prior, our gentleman in Paraguay received Carol’s recorded message about reversing the hive. He instantly leaves his storage garage prison for home. He packs his car to leave the city, when he’s confronted by the woman who had been delivering him the meals. She asks, “What can we do for you, son?” He abruptly replies, “You’re not my mother. My mother’s a bitch,” before pushing the car into drive.
Another great curveball of an episode. As much as Carol wants to see the innate evil in the “hive”, its somewhat criminally minded habits make sense in this reality. And despite her forced disdain for people, we see that Carol wants to be included; community is still necessary. Perhaps her kindred spirit is speeding its way up from South America.
Rhea Seehorn continues to shine, with the range of emotions she captures. The John Cena cameo is golden, and kudos to Samba Schutte for his particularly naive portrayal of Mr. Diabaté. The man is living his Blank Check life with a youthful awe in his eyes. It’s somewhat endearing, despite his manipulative use of the hive.
Rating: 10/10